Interaction Lab

The research interests of Interaction Lab are in the fields of computer games and other interactable media. Our goal is to carry out high quality research and development within our areas of interest.

Development

What happens when a player plays a computer game? What catches attention? What works well and what does not? The Interaction Lab is used to study and answer questions like these. We have created two main gaming environments in our lab; a car environment and a home environment, where playing can be studied with the aid of surveillance equipment. The lab is frequently used by students as well as researchers. One study is focusing on traffic safety. Another one on the importance of using the whole body to enhance the gaming experience. We also have used the lab to develop a commercial game for children, which is both fun to play and educational.

Entertainment

Computer games are entertainment, a sector that currently exhibits extensive growth in Sweden as well as the rest of the world. In order to offer the best graduate study programs, as well as the most exiting research in Sweden, the University of Skövde works in close collaboration with the games industry. We are inspired by and develop from the leading games companies in Sweden. We also work together with some of the start-up companies started by former students from the University. These start-ups, situated in Gothia Science Park have natural and easy access to the lab for testing the game design of their games, before releasing them to the market. The lab is also open to other external actors. Our next step is the development of gaming environments and demonstrators for entertainment based learning, so called serious gaming, where playing is central.

Some of our projects

EduGame Lab

Funding: EU Lifelong Learning Programme
PI at Skövde: Per Backlund

The purpose of the project is to investigate the use of educational games in formal and informal learning situations and to develop methods to analyze the quality of educational games.

Scandinavian Game Developers

Funding: EU Interreg programme
PI at Skövde: Per Backlund

We work togheter with Danish partners to analyze the Scandinavian market for game developers and to develop incubators and development methods to support emerging studios.